Junior April McBride hit her 1,000th career point and had a career-high 29 in Maryland Eastern Shore's (UMES) win over Morgan State (MSU) 67-58 in the William P. Hytche Athletic Center. The Lady Hawks have now won five straight contests, their longest streak this season.
McBride currently has a career total 1,023 points and leads the team in points and rebounds. She finished the night netting her fifth double-double of the season with game-highs of 29 points and 11 rebounds, shooting 90-percent from the free throw line.
"Our guards did a great job of getting the ball inside," said Head Coach Fred Batchelor. "The perimeter players did a great job of being patient and getting good looks. It's tough when you have three people zeroing in on the target you are trying to hit."
Two other Lady Hawks finished in double digits. Casey Morton and Tiffany Reid had 15 and 12 points respectively, each adding four assists to the effort. Reid ended the night with seven rebounds, shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
In a battle that went back and forth, the game was tied nine times before McBride gave UMES the final lead
56-54 with 3:24 left to play. Freshman Kanzes Battin hit a long two to put UMES up by four with 2:38 on the clock.
MSU's leading scorer Corin Adams helped pull the Lady Bears to within one point after sinking the first to two free throws with 1:44 left on in the game. But, UMES would make 5-of-6 free throws in the final 40 seconds of play and hold MSU scoreless to win their third consecutive conference game for the first time in almost a year.
Adams ended with a team-high 20 points. Erin Hawkins was the only other Lady Bear to reach double- figures, finishing with 13 points, shooting 8-for-8 from the free throw line.
The Lady Hawks finish of up their four game home series against Coppin State on February 2 in their only televised game this season. It is set to be broadcast live on ESPNU with tipoff at 4:30 p.m.